Three youths arrested for smuggling 6.5 kg of ganja near Namakkal
The arrested youths have been identified as M Tirupathi, 23, and S Vigneswaran, 20, of Erumapatty and V Sanjay, 19, of Senthamangalam.
Namakkal district superintendent of police S Vimala, prohibition enforcement wing additional superintendent of police Dhanraj, inspector Sankarapandian and sub-inspector Selladurai carried out a vehicle check near Thirthampalayam on the Mohanur - Paramathi Velur state highway around 11pm.
The cops intercepted three youths travelling on a motorcycle, conducted a search and found 6.5 kg of ganja in a bag they carried.
"They were smuggling the ganja to sell,' said the inspector. The police seized the ganja and the motorcycle.
The arrested youths were remanded in judicial custody on Tuesday.
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United News of India
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- United News of India
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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
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Soon after his release from prison, Dhayalan (Fahadh) returns to thievery and is on the hunt for something big, so that he doesn't have to waste time stealing small items like mobile phones, purses containing only a little cash, and bikes parked at movie theatres anymore. As a part of this plan, he breaks into a house that night where he meets an ageing man, Velayudham Pillai (Vadivelu), chained to a window. Scared by Dhaya's threat, Velayudham tells him that there's no money at home, but promises to pay him by making a withdrawal from an ATM. Meanwhile, the old man reveals to the thief that he suffers from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, which is why his son has handcuffed him to the window. At the ATM, Dhayalan notices that Velayudham has about Rs 25 lakh in his account. After paying some money to Dhaya, Velayudham decides to leave for either his daughter's place in Palakkad or his friend's in Thiruvannamalai. Assuring to drop him where he wanted on his bike, Dhaya takes the old man along, although his eye is only on the money. However, hurdles start cropping up in his path as Velayudham forgets the ATM PIN and even details about his life, with the elderly man sometimes mistaking Dhaya for his son Kumar. Nonetheless, the thief remains determined. As the movie progresses, though, we start getting the feeling that there's more to Velayudham than we see. Is he hiding something from us? Above all, who is he actually? For a movie titled Maareesan — a rakshasa character in the Hindu epic of Ramayana, who served as an ally of Ravana and played a key role in the kidnapping of Sita — it wastes an awful lot of time disguising itself as a fun comedy wherein the fate of a thief and his loot hinges on the mercy of the victim. Considering that the film's named Maareesan, it's almost impossible to believe that this storyline forms its core. 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What further detracts from the experience is the soap opera-ish kind of making style director Sudheesh Sankar has adopted — mirroring the many TV serials he has directed over the years — with the climax ending up as the most-affected sequence. Featuring a fight that makes us question our visual perceptual skills, simply because it's been choreographed and paced in an extremely odd manner, the climax almost ruins the few good things about Maareesan, which is ultimately saved by the lead duo. In fact, that can be said about pretty much the entire movie, with Fahadh and Vadivelu becoming the ones doing all the heavy lifting while Sudheesh and Krishna Moorthy, among most others, just watch with the cameras on. Despite this being the third time that he plays a complete thief (not just a character involved in fraudulent activities) — after Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017) and Vettaiyan (2024) — Fahadh ensures that Dhaya is nothing like Prasad or Battery. 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Besides making Velayudham and Dhaya say dialogues denouncing child sexual abuse and the need for stringent punishments for the perpetrators, the film as a whole doesn't contribute to that cause, and hence, the lines eventually come across as performative. For a person to transform, realising their past mistakes and problematic mindsets, thus registering character growth, is totally plausible. So, the possibility that the same Sudheesh Sankar who made the atrocious Villali Veeran could have undergone a change of heart and chosen to make a film about child sexual abuse was not out of the question. However, the way the topic has been woven into Maareesan and handled makes one wonder, did he really mean to condemn it? Or was he simply and shamelessly playing to the gallery both times? First, by creating a misogynistic monolith when such harmful portrayals were normalised, and now, by making a film about child sexual abuse at a time when socially conscious cinema is in the spotlight. Maareesan movie cast: Fahadh Faasil, Vadivelu, Kovai Sarala, Vivek Prasanna, Sithara Maareesan movie director: Sudheesh Sankar Maareesan movie rating: 2 stars Anandu Suresh is a Senior sub-editor at Indian Express Online. He specialises in Malayalam cinema, but doesn't limit himself to it and explores various aspects of the art form. He also pens a column titled Cinema Anatomy, where he delves extensively into the diverse layers and dimensions of cinema, aiming to uncover deeper meanings and foster continuous discourse. Anandu previously worked with The New Indian Express' news desk in Hyderabad, Telangana. You can follow him on Twitter @anandu_suresh_ and write (or send movie recommendations) to him at ... Read More
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
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